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How to make an Led Infinity Illusion Mirror

In this article, I am going to describe how I made an LED infinity illusion mirror, using an Ikea mirror tile, a sheet of glass, some reflective window film, a reel of led strip light tape and some wood.

FRAME PROFILE

Frame profile with imperial measurements

Cut a groove in the wood on the router table using a 1/8″ straight bit
Cut a rabbet in the wood using a 5/8″ straight bit

Frame profile with metric measurements

Cut a groove in the wood on the router table using a 4mm straight bit
Cut a rabbet in the wood using a 16mm straight bit

FRAME MITRES

Cut the wood into 4 pieces
set the Mitre saw to 45 degrees
Use a sacrificial fence on the mitre saw
Cut right-hand side mitres on all four pieces of wood

Insert the glass into the groove on one of the pieces and mark the correct width for the side.

Using the sacrificial fence, line up the mark on the piece of wood and then clamp one of the offcuts onto the fence as a stop block.

Cut the first piece of wood to size and remove it from the saw

Place each of the remaining three wood pieces against the stop block and cut them to size.

Dry fit the sides and the glass to check it all fits

SPRAY PAINT THE INSIDES BLACK

Mask and spray the insides of the wood pieces with matt black paint

ASSEMBLE AND GLUE THREE SIDES

Apply wood glue to one side
Assemble the sides
Clamp together with a band clamp
Leave to dry

CORNER DOWELS

To strengthen the glued corners, install wooden dowels through them.

Clamp the Corner dowel drilling jig to one of the corners
Clamp a wood block to the other side
Drill two holes through the corner
Repeat this for the other glued corner
Apply wood glue to the dowels
Tap the dowels through the holes with a mallet
Once the glue is dry cut off the excess dowels
Sand the dowels flat

INSTALL THE LED STRIP ONTO THE FRAME

The next job was to install the led strip onto the frame. Now I could have wrapped the tape around the inside in one piece, but I thought it would look more uniform If I cut it into four sections and then soldered them together again with flexible wires.

I CUT THREE LENGTHS OF LED TAPE TO LENGTH AT THE MARKED POSITIONS.
TINNED THE CONNECTIONS ON EACH TAPE AND ALSO THE STRIPPED WIRES.
SOLDERED THE WIRES TO THE TAPES.
MARKED A PENCIL LINE ALONG THE CENTRE OF THE WOOD PIECE.
REMOVED THE BACKING FROM THE FIRST LENGTH OF LED TAPE
POSITIONED IT ON THE SIDE USING THE PENCIL LINE AND STUCK IT DOWN

I THEN REPEATED THE PROCESS FOR THE OTHER TWO LENGTHS OF LED TAPE, MAKING SURE THAT THEY WERE ORIENTATED IN THE SAME DIRECTION

THE WIRES WERE THEN CUT TO LENGTH AND SOLDERED TO THE NEIGHBORING LED TAPE, CONNECTING POSITIVE TO POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE TO NEGATIVE.

THE LED STRIP was then tested.

CREATE A ROUTE FOR THE LED POWER CABLE

I realised that I would need a place for the power cable to exit the frame, so I routed a slot in the fourth side.

PAINT THE FRONT EDGE & SIDE OF THE FRAME

I decided that it was a good idea to paint the top and the inside edges of the frame before the glass was installed.

The paint used was from Rustoleum, with a silver base coat and a chalky graphite top coat designed to be rubbed back for a distressed look.

I applied the silver base coat and left it to dry.

Then I applied the chalky graphite coat and left it to dry.

I rubbed back the graphite coat with a stainless steel kitchen scrubber.

Finally, I applied a coat of lacquer.

APPLY THE MIRROR FILM TO THE GLASS

Next, I applied the silver reflective mirror film to the glass, this converted it into a two-way mirror.

The glass was cleaned thoroughly and I wore plastic gloves to avoid finger prints.

Using two pieces of masking tape stuck to either side, i separated the film from its backing.

Then I used a mister to spray soapy water onto the film and the glass, before peeling away the rest of the backing and applying the film to the glass.

A silicone squeegee blade was used to gently to remove the air bubbles trapped underneath the film.

I then cut away the excess film with a sharp knife and left the mirror film to dry on the glass for 24 hours.

ASSEMBLE THE FRAME

I installed the 2-way mirror glass into the groove in the frame with the film facing inside.

Then I applied wood glue to the fourth side and clamped the frame together with a band clamp, checking that it was all square.